Sony Pictures' Mark Caplan on Ghostbusters activity, passionate fans and new areas for the brand

With Ghostbusters set to hit screens in July, here Mark Caplan, SVP global consumer products for Sony Pictures Entertainment reveals his excitement to launch a product line in May and how the brand will tap into more retail channels in the future.

How have things been for Ghostbusters?

Things are going exceptionally well for the brand and we have been quite busy gearing up for the global film launch in July. Most recently, we had the pleasure of having the film’s director Paul Feig present sneak peeks of the movie to close to 200 potential licensees, promotional partners and retailers in London earlier this year. The footage was unanimously praised and we are excited to bring a fantastic product line to fruition to accompany this great action comedy film.

Do you think 2016 will be the biggest year yet for the movie franchise?

Our Classic Ghostbusters product based on the 1980s films always performs day in and day out, but we are certainly seeing a real surge in activity around the brand now that the film is on the horizon. In the UK alone we have over 25 licensees covering all key categories including Mattel, LEGO, Rubies, Ozzbozz, Pyramid, Danilo, 50:Fifty Gifts and Underground Toys to name a few. We are launching movie based product beginning in May and have several waves of promotion planned taking us through the film launch, to Halloween and the holidays.

What are your plans for the brand? What does 2016 have in store?

The marketing for our film will kick off in a few short weeks with our first trailer, then you will continue to see increased marketing and press and publicity as we get closer to our July release. On the consumer products side, we are very excited and proud of the great range that our global master toy licensee Mattel have developed, as well as the innovative product coming from all of our other licensees.

We have a very loyal and passionate fanbase already, and we are eager to introduce this franchise to a whole new generation with our new film. We look at this film as the first step in our relaunch of the franchise, and we are planning new content including an animated television series and a live-action sequel to our feature, which will take us through the next several years.

Are there any new areas you will be exploring in the licensing space in the future?

We are always looking at new categories, as well as looking at new ways to stand out in our key categories like toys, gaming, apparel and publishing. Our toy line, for instance, highlights our four female leads in action figure form.

Paul Feig himself tweeted a first look at these figures and the consumer response has been tremendous. On the apparel side we are looking at unique glow-in-the-dark applications and unexpected fashion collaborations, which allows us to take the brand into new retail channels.

Two years after the all-female reboot of the beloved 1980s franchise arrived, original star Dan Aykroyd is now promising that a true Ghostbusters 3, starring the three surviving OG ‘busters, is on its way. Many thought the death of Harold Ramis, who played Egon Spengler, in 2014 had put paid to a proper reunion, but Aykroyd’s comments suggest that we can look forward to him teaming up with Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson in the near future.

While speaking on The Big Interview With Dan Rather, the man fans know as Dr. Ray Stantz, the heart of the Ghostbusters agreed with Rather’s wording that he was talking about making a “full-blown third Ghostbusters,” with an unknown writer already currently working on the script. Obviously, Aykroyd wouldn’t let on to anything about story details, but he did tease that it’ll try and recapture what worked so well about the original films while giving it a “21st century” twist.

“I think we got a story that’s gonna work. It’s being written by a really goo…

Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock; Columbia Pictures (3); Everett Collection
If so, there's good news from the world of Gozer — there’s a new Ghostbusters movie in the works!

Entertainment Weekly has learned exclusively that Jason Reitman will direct and co-write an upcoming film set in the world that was saved decades previously by the proton pack-wearing working stiffs in the original 1984 movie, which was directed by his father, Ivan Reitman.

“I’ve always thought of myself as the first Ghostbusters fan, when I was a 6-year-old visiting the set. I wanted to make a movie for all the other fans,” Reitman says. “This is the next chapter in the original franchise. It is not a reboot. What happened in the ‘80s happened in the ‘80s, and this is set in the present day.”